We have been struggling with our daughter Abbie’s definition of love.  Abbie told me a few weeks ago what love is…”Love is letting me do whatever I want.”  Fast forward.  Tonight we were having issues with the kids in Target when the only thing left to do was take away the Cold Stone Creamery trip.  Abbie was going on about how she doesn’t have any parents that love her.  Katie looked at her and responded, “Abbie, I took away ice cream because I love you.”  Abbie sat there stunned.  “Because you love me?”  Katie nodded.  She had never thought of it that way.

Have you thought of it that way?  We get it in our heads that a God that loves us says “yes” all the time.  We pray for the promotion and we get 5 more years in the same job.  It goes on and on.  The whole time we are complaining about how we don’t have a Heavenly Father that loves us.. He can’t possibly love us, he isn’t saying “yes.”  Like Abbie, we have it in our head that love is always saying yes and yet, God says to us, “No child, I said no because I love you.”